The Ring
by chibilinnet
Summary: **COMPLETE** Mmmhmmm... With only one day left, Riku and Sora must break into Aerith's house to find out the truth about the tape... they think they have broken the curse, but have they?
1. I'm so sorry

****

The Ring

by chibilinnet

Bwahahahaha... well, actually, this is loosely based off the idea of The Ring. I figured I should write something serious at least ONCE. So review and tell me to stop before I completely kill this fic. HELP!!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, or their characters, and I didn't come up with the idea for The Ring. DON'T SUE!!

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"When will I go home...?"

The little boy dully spoke, blankly staring into the camera. His soft, orange eyes were covered by thick silver hair, his head lolled to one side. He sat in the empty white room, with a frustrated psychiatrist sitting across from him. He didn't know why he was here. All he wanted was his mother.

"Ansem, you can go home when we figure out what's wrong with you..." Leon murmured, waving a gloved hand. His eyes fell on the folder before him, simply marked 'Ansem'. He had treated many other children before, but this one just scared him...

"There's nothing wrong with...me..." Ansem's voice wavered as he stated this. He lifted his head up slightly, the silver hair falling from his face to reveal one orange eye, now cold and angry. Leon felt his blood freeze.

"There's nothing wrong with me..." The boy repeated. "It's all Daddy's fault... He doesn't care about me..."

Leon shuffled his papers nervously. He looked over Ansem's record again, eyes pausing at one particular fact.

__

Subject was seen standing in the room where the murder was committed. Was holding a large bloody knife and admitted to murdering Myst Kenshin

"It is because of Daddy you hurt people?" Leon asked.

Ansem's eyes went to the side of the room, regarding it instead of Leon's question. He just sat there, not paying attention to a single word Leon was saying.

"Ansem, is it because of Daddy you hurt people?" Leon asked, a little louder. He clutched the folder nervously.

"I can't tell you... because then you'll get hurt... just like that girl... and they'll blame it on me..." Ansem had a playful smile, saying the sentence in a sing-song voice "Blame it on me... Always blame it on me..."

Leon hesitated, then stood up slowly from his chair and walked over to Ansem, who was still staring at the wall. The young doctor kneeled next to the boy and reached out to him, gripping his arm.

"Ansem, Nobody will hurt anybody. You can tell me. I'll keep it a secret, I promise." Leon whispered, using his free hand to turn Ansem's face toward him. 

Worry etched itself on Ansem's delicate features, and he sadly warned the doctor:

"You shouldn't make promises you can't keep."

"I won't die." Leon firmly repeated. "I don't break promises."

The boy took a deep breath, then dropped his head, looking at the white tiles beneath them.

"Daddy... he hurts people, not me. He has secrets... only me and Mommy know them. We don't speak. But sometimes people find out. They find out, about Daddy... and he kills them." Ansem's voice resonated around the room, only to be replaced by dead silence.

"Kills them." Ansem repeated, his voice dropped to a deathly soft whisper. "He kills them..." The little boy shifted his hands, a small one gripping Leon's arm now. "But it'll be painless... don't worry... you won't feel a thing..."

Leon wrenched his arm from the boy's grasp. Ansem could see his wide blue eyes, unspeakable terror in them. He could almost hear the young psychiatrist's heart beating wildly against his chest.

"I'm so sorry..."

Leon tried to find his voice, but it was stuck somewhere in his throat, refusing to come out. He saw Ansem's eyes widen for just a moment-

-...then his head rolled to Ansem's feet.

PSYCHIATRIST KILLED, PATIENT IS TO BLAME

Traverse Town-Psychiatrist Leon Lionhart was found dead in the Traverse Town Asylum yesterday. Mr. Lionhart was decapitated, and his current patient, 10-year old Ansem Valentine was found holding a bloody dagger. Officials are baffled on how the 10-year old managed to smuggle the weapon in the institute and...

~~~

Ansem stood by the well, a pair of forget-me-nots in his hand. The boy looked into the well's depths, a tear falling from his cheek.

"Why did you kill him.... He wasn't involved..." Ansem whimpered. 

"He knew too much." Sephiroth patiently explained, stroking Ansem's hair with a gloved hand. "They all knew too much... we have to keep it a secret, Ansem..."

Sephiroth stared lovingly at his son. After so many years, they had a child of their own. Him and Aerith. But in the back of his mind, he knew Ansem couldn't stay. The boy was too perceptive, too...smart. Ansem was a threat to everything he had worked too hard for. Sephiroth loved him so much, he HATED him. Hated how Ansem knew everything. Hated how he spoke in riddles. Hated how it was so hard to work up the courage to get rid of him.

But not anymore. Sephiroth resolved to end this once and for all.

Quickly, the deranged father pulled a plastic bag over Ansem's face, suffocating the boy. He pulled as hard as he could, ignoring Ansem's helpless struggles. After what seemed to be hours, the struggling ceased and Sephiroth felt Ansem limply fall into his arms.

Carefully, sadly, he lifted the body up and casually tossed it over the well. He watched the body drop into the well, he watched the rippled, and he watched it eerily float there, face down.

Sighing, Sephiroth grabbed the lid and slid it on, laying a forget-me-not on the cover.

"I'm sorry... please forgive me..." Sephiroth apologized, placing a hand on the flower.

~TBC~

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Yeah, I know it sucked XD. Anyway, for some reason, this was easy to write... I have a harder time writing my funny stories! Well, I hope I can continue this... if you people want me to... anyway...

*shudders*


	2. The Tape

****

THE TAPE

Riku, a sophomore at Hollow Bastion University, was never a morning person. Though it was rather amusing to see his reaction the morning sunlight. One unfortunate priest who visited his dorm once thought Riku was possessed by a demon one morning. It took A LOT of reasoning to make him leave.

But he had class in the morning... but the bed was so warm... class...bed...class...bed...learning...warmth...education...looking younger... choices, choices...

Riku was about to make the obvious choice, when a shrill scream rang through the air. Horrified, Riku shot right up, kicking the covers off and running to his door by pure instinct.

He kicked the morning mail aside and pushed open the door, peaking outside. A large crowd was gathered a few doors down. Curiously, he stepped out and walked closer, making out the scene of two paramedics grimly carrying a stretcher that had a sheet over it.

Riku's blood froze. That was Selphie Tilmitt's room.

Edging closer, he heard horrified whispers and speculations. A conversation nearby, being held by two girls in the corner, happened to spark some interest.

"Tidus and Wakka were found dead too, you know."

"Really? Is that true, Mary?"

"Yes it is, Cait. Tidus, you know, had a room on the upper levels. He jumped off. 30 feet. Head first. Wakka, on the other hand, cut his own throat. Selphie's I heard was REALLY gruesome. Her skin was ripped off or something..."

Before Mary could continue, Cait sharply smacked her on the head.

"You are so morbid, did you know that?"

"They probably watched that tape. I told them not to."

"What tape?" Riku asked, not caring that he intruded on their conversation. Cait looked a little angry, but Mary looked quite pleased someone had interest in her story.

"The tape that kills you when you watch it. You don't know?" She rattled on.

"No..."

"Alright. There's this weird tape that has these images. I dunno what they are, obviously, but they're not meant to be seen. When the tape is finished, someone knows you watch it." Cait jumped in, much to Mary's annoyance.

"You get a phone call saying you have a week to live. EXACTLY a week later..." Mary finished, putting emphasis on the world exactly, "You die. Simple as that."

Riku nodded, then his eyes caught the sight of his two best friends, Sora and Kairi, running to the scene. Kairi stopped to speak with a friend while Sora walked directly over to Riku, his face paler than normal.

"They found Wakka. More of, I found Wakka." He shuddered, moving a hand to his neck. Down the hall, another crowd was forming around Wakka's door.

"It's true, then? What about Tidus?"

"Oh, you heard already? Word goes around here fast then... Though I don't know about Tidus..." Sora chuckled, in spite of himself.

"Yeah, Mary and Cait told me, over..." Riku turned around to point to the girls, but they were long gone.

"Mary and who? Cait?" Sora asked, a little confused.

Riku just grunted in confirmation, trying to look for them in the crowd.

"Riku, they cut off access to all the floors. There is no Mary or Cait on this floor." Sora told him.

"Wh-What? But I swear, I-"

Before Riku could finish, Kairi bounded over to them, shaking and seemingly in tears.

"Tidus is gone too!" Kairi sobbed.

Sora shot Riku a weird look.

"So, Riku was right..." He mused to himself.

"What?" Kairi stared at Riku, puzzled. "He knew already?"  


"Kairi..." Sora murmured, patting his lady friend's head. "I think our silver-haired prettyboy friend here was ESP."

~~~

Back in his dorm, Riku realized that he missed the mail in his rush to see what all the fuss was about. Shrugging he picked up the pile. Junk, junk, letter from mom, bill, bill, tape, junk... tape?

Riku's sea-green eyes widened as he dropped all his mail. The letters fluttered noiselessly on the floor as Riku examined the tape.

It was a regular, unmarked tape. Cait's words came creeping back into his mind, echoing loudly.

__

There's this weird tape that has these images. I dunno what they are, obviously, but they're not meant to be seen.

Shuddering, Riku placed the tape on the table, where it seemed to watch his every move.

__

It's just a stupid tape, Riku rationalized to himself. _It's probably just some stupid joke..._

Cursing himself for his weakness, Riku grabbed the tape and angrily strode into his living room, plopping down on the floor. He popped the tape in and turned on his TV. Walking back to his couch, Riku found the remote and pressed Play.

The screen flickered once or twice, then suddenly an image appeared. It was a black screen with a white ring in the middle. An eerie humming filled the room as Riku focused on the images on the tape.

More flickers... a flower field... a house... _heads on sticks, their faces twisted in horror, _the flower field again, this time with a man with long hair standing in it... a woman brushing her hair, looking at him through a mirror..._dead bodies everywhere, blood pouring from their wounds..._ and it all ended focusing on a well. 

The tape went back to static, and the VCR forcibly ejected it, spitting the tape out as if it held a horrible disease. The tape clattered on the floor near Riku's feet.

And the phone rang.

Riku looked at the phone beside the couch, watched as it rang on shrilly. Breathing heavily, he carefully picked it up and held it to his ear.

"H-Hello...?"

"I'm sorry... seven days..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

DUN-DUN-DDDDDDDUUUUUUNNNN!!! Considering I wrote that during the night, _ON MY LAST DAY_, that just scared the crap out of me...

Anyways, I'm glad you all liked it!! ^_^ I'm on a updating spree, so hopefully I can get the rest of it completed soon.


	3. Day One

****

DAY ONE

"Riku, what's up with you?"

Riku was broken out of his reverie when Kairi's voice rang through the air. Riku whirled around and faced his friend, who eyed him curiously. Riku looked down and realized that he had been holding the phone for 15 minutes. Laying the beeping machine down, he stood, turned and faced Kairi, face paler than usual.

"I...I..." 

"Riku, damn, you looked like something scared the shit out of you..." The red-head muttered, looking over her distraught friend.

"Um... it's nothing!" Riku laughed, setting the phone down on the hook. 

"Oh... I just wanted to show you something weird. Remember the picture we took with Selphie outside of that McDonalds two days ago?" Kairi asked, reaching into her pocket. She drew out a photo and handed it to Riku.

Riku took it, and he didn't think anything was wrong until his eyes fell on Selphie's face... or what was left of it. Her face was blurred, kind of twisted sideways, whereas the rest of the picture was normal.

"Weird, huh?" Kairi shrugged. She sadly sighed and took the picture, sliding it out of Riku's hands. "Good times, though... good times..."

Riku didn't reply. 

"Must have been some error... but only on Selphie's face. Maybe it was some sort of weird prediction..." Kairi continued to muse, ignoring Riku and looking up to the ceiling. 

Squirming now, Riku dared to look up to Kairi, who was oblivious to everything. Normally, Riku was not too superstitious, but something in his brain screamed at him to take a picture. Take a picture, and see.

"Kairi, do you have your digi-cam with you?" Riku spoke, determined to convince himself everything was a coincidence.

"Yeah, sure." Kairi nodded, reaching through her small handbag. She pulled out the camera and slipped in a diskette, then flipped the switch. The blue screen faintly illuminated her face.

"Take my picture."

Kairi gave Riku a weird look. She studied the look on his face, which seemed scared, yet determined. Deciding it was better she didn't ask, Kairi brought the camera to Riku's face and her finger fell on the shutter.

Light.

Pressing her thumb on the keypad, Kairi flipped to Riku's picture. Her eyes suddenly grew wide and her mouth slightly dropped open as she scanned the picture.

Seeing the look on her face, Riku rolled his eyes. He didn't need to know, did he?

"Riku... Riku... you... you... LOOK GREAT!" She cackled, turning the camera around and lo and behold, Riku's face was untouched. But his hair... well, it was something else.

"YOU!" He growled and grabbed a nearby pillow and flung it at Kairi, missing horribly. She shrieked playfully and threw the camera down on the couch, running as Riku chased her with the pillow, intent on causing her much pain.

As the camera bounced noiselessly on the couch, the TV switched on and static blared once more. Riku's face on the camera slowly started twisting itself.

~~~

"I said I'm sorry!" Kairi grumbled, stomping back into the room. She picked up her camera and snorted. The screen was blank. "Batteries ran out..." She grumbled. They have been gone for about six hours.

"Holy crap, I left the TV on..." Riku grabbed the remote and flipped the TV off. He saw the tape on the floor and those horrible images returned to his mind. 

Kairi seemed to have noticed the tape too, as she prodded it with her foot.

"What's that?"

"Um... it's this weird tape, has some disturbing images..." Riku muttered, grabbing it. He placed it on top of the VCR, sliding it in the far back.

"Let me see!" Kairi protested.

"No..."

"Oh come on, it won't scar me for life, will it? Unless it's porn..." She giggled at the mere thought. Upon receiving Riku's glare, she giggled some more.

"It's late... I'll show you it tomorrow..." Riku told her. This seemed to satisfy Kairi and she shrugged. She replaced the batteries and took a look at the pictures in the diskette to make sure they were not deleted as she walked out.

"Damn!" She muttered in frustration. 

Riku's picture was deleted.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bleh. Really short. Ya know, I wondered how people thought this could be scary. But I really hate this fic, it scares ME when I write it. I really don't like it, but I really wanna finish it, so I'll just have to deal with it. Listening to 'Hikari' seems to help ^_^


	4. Day Two

****

DAY TWO

[Hollow Bastion University Media Room]

"Riku! What you making?"

Sora leaned against the wall watching Riku record the tape.

"AAAAHHH! Sora!" Riku screeched. He whirled around and eyed Sora angrily. "How long have you been watching?" He demanded.

"Since the tape started." Sora shrugged. "What the hell is it, anyway?"

Suddenly. the blare of static informed Riku the tape had ended. Eyes widening in shock, Riku's mouth hung open. He helplessly stared at Sora before finally asking:

"How much did you watch?"

"All of it. And it was-"

Sora was cut off by the shrill ring of the phone. Smiling, he reached over and grabbed it off the hook.

"Yo?" Sora spoke in the receiver. His smile disappeared and was replaced with a frown when he received his reply, then he lowered the phone and looked at Riku, confused.

"The heck? Some dude told me-"

"Seven days?" Riku whispered, finishing his sentence.

"What the heck? You too?" Sora asked, setting the phone down. Riku's hands fumbled with a copy of the tape, and he stared angrily at it.

"This tape... I got it in the mail. When I watched it, I got the same call... Sora, I heard an urban legend just like this!" Riku stammered, fear filling his usually tranquil green eyes. "Seven days... then we die..." he mouthed, not aware of the fact Sora was looking at him strangely.

"Damn, Riku, the hell is wrong with you?" Sora snapped. Riku shook his head, trying to get those images out of his head.

"I'm sorry... it's all just so weird..." Riku grumbled, setting the tape aside. Sora rolled his eyes and walked out of the living room, not really caring about the matter. Riku just frowned, looking back at the tape. There was something unnatural about it...

Determined to find answers, Riku sat back down and watched it again.

Setting the VCR to slow-mode, Riku flipped through the images, trying to ignore the disturbing pictures. Suddenly, a soft noise was coming from the speakers.

Riku smiled. Ah-ha.

Leaning closer, Riku could make out the words...

__

"Ev oui bmyo hayn fydan, dra suhcdan femm lusa kad oui."

"Wha?" Riku leaned over and turned the volume up. The same words repeated, slightly louder. He grabbed a nearby note pad and started scribbling the words on his notepad. Reviewing them, they looked very familiar....

"Must be some sort of language..." Riku muttered. He stood up, ejected the tape, stuffed both it and the copy in his gym bag and quickly ran from the media room, thoroughly spooked.

~~~

"This?" Sora laughed. "Looks like Al Bhed to me... that's an old language, hardly anyone speaks it anymore." He explained, throwing the notepad down.

Riku nodded numbly, gripping his coffee. He thought more, then nodded, seemingly lost in his own world.

"Sora."

"Yeah?"

"Can you check and see if anyone or a town or something still speaks Al Bhed? In this country?" Riku requested. "I know you have your sources." He grinned, not letting Sora back out of this one.

The younger boy scratched his head and nodded. 

"Sure, but I don't see why this is all important to you..."

"It's a life or death matter. Trust me." Riku replied.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SCARY SCARY SCARY SCARY! O_O Anyway, yes, the "voice in the tape" thing I used is actually from Ringu, the original Japanese version. I just thought it was cooler than finding a lighthouse in the frame. And no, I just picked that up from a script. I'm too scared to watch The Ring again, never mind Ringu (Sadako in Technicolor...NO.)!

AUGH!! PHONE! RINGING! *flees*


	5. Day Three

****

DAY THREE

[Riku's dorm]

__

Riiiiing

"JESUS!" Riku fell off of his bed, clutching the phone in dazed shock. Not wanting to miss Sora's phone call, he had slept cradling the phone near his ear. 

Well, it certainly helped.

Excited, Riku tore the receiver from the phone and held it to his ear.

"Sora?!" He whispered eagerly.

"Yep. There are some people who speak it. 40 or so years ago, though." Sora's voice rang loud and clear. Riku jumped up and ran to his notepad, laid forgotten on the table a day earlier.

"Sora, tell me what the town is called or I'll kill you myself!" Riku spat. He heard chuckling on the other line and the rustling of papers.

"Destiny Islands. Nice place. Lots of flowers grow there...."

__

Flowers...

The word repeated in Riku's head.

~~~

****

[Hollow Bastion school library]

"Here we go. All the info on Destiny Islands."

"Thanks."

Riku grabbed the top book from the small stack and flipped through the pages. He had tried to find out something about Destiny Islands from the Internet, but all he got was information from some game called _Kingdom Hearts._ Stupid Google.

His green eyes scanned the pages, searching for anything useful. The town did use to speak Al Bhed, but it is a dead language now. Frowning, that was all the useful information he had...

...until he got to the page about flowers.

"Holy shit."

In the black and white picture above the text, there was a woman holding a flower basket filled with blue-ish looking flowers. She wore a huge smile, and next to her was a silver-haired man...

...who looked like the one in the tape.

Riku felt something warm trickling down his nose. Wiping it with his arm, he found red stained on his arm.

Blood.

"Hey, you got a nosebleed..."

"I know. Thanks." He muttered. He gratefully offered the tissue that was offered to him by the passing stranger and tilted his head back, staring at the ceiling.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now that I think back, I think Rachel got the nosebleed on the second day, but I'll just traumatize Riku and have them all occur one day after another. Hee hee, tis fun.


	6. Day Four

****

DAY THREE [cont.]

After cleaning the blood off his face and arm, Riku returned to his books. Looking back on the section about flowers, he found the subtitles to the picture he found earlier and read them out loud.

"Aerith Gainsborough, posing with fiancée Sephiroth, the flower merchant of Destiny Islands..." He trailed off, confused.

Flowers? One would expect, with all the dark, sinister things happening, that you would get something that makes more sense like Chocobos or something, if you wanted to get all cute and fluffy...

"Sephiroth..." Riku whispered, staring hard into Sephiroth's grinning face in the picture. No last name, no mention at all in the entire book except for this...

Who was he?

~~~

****

DAY FOUR

[Riku's Dorm]

Having spent all day researching, sending Sora out to gather information and finding out nothing, Riku finally fell into a fitful sleep. Kicking the useless library books off his bed and shutting off his computer, Riku closed his eyes, trying to rest.

It was short lived, however.

__

"Daddy?"

The whisper reached Riku's ear, taking him out of his sleep. Riku slowly sat up, straining his ears to listen.

"Who's there...?" He called out, a little shaken. The whispers were still present in the air, too faint for Riku to hear. Slowly, he stepped out of the bed and wandered the hall, looking for the source of the voice.

As he got closer to the living room, the whispers got louder. However, they were too mixed up in each other for Riku to make out anything. They got louder and louder, until Riku finally reached the living room.

Peeking out from behind the wall, Riku saw a small figure, black and white, standing out from the colored background. It's back was almost completely covered in long, white hair. In front of the figure was the TV, showing noiseless static on the screen.

"H-Hello?" Riku feebly tried to speak with the figure.

It did not move.

Getting closer, Riku moved in from the side. He stretched out his arm to tap the stranger on the shoulder-

-when it whirled around and grabbed his arm. 

Shocked, Riku tried to wrench his arm from its grasp as a burning feeling enveloped his arm. Crying out from the pain, Riku felt something being burned into the helpless limb.

The pain ceased suddenly, and Riku found himself staring at the ceiling in shock, safe in his bed.

Or so he thought. Bringing his arm up into his line of vision, Riku's eyes widened in fear as he saw a burn mark of a hand imprinted in it.

He tore off the covers and ran to the living room again, this time to see an even more frightening scene.

Kairi sat cross-legged in front of the TV. The tape was just about to end, displaying the well. Riku spied a hand coming out from the well before it ended in static.

He just stood there, motionless, mind not exactly comprehending what happened.

The phone rang.

"Riku?" Kairi asked, turning around, somehow knowing he was there.

The phone was still ringing.

"Riku?" Kairi repeated. "What's wrong?? Riku?!"

Riku felt himself nodding faintly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was gonna have Riku spaz out and shake Kairi and scream and stuff, but it seemed too melodramatic. Instead, I have him acting shocked. Either way, I still hate the way I wrote this part. But wa-hey! The good stuff is coming up!


	7. Day Five

****

DAY FIVE

[Riku's Dorm-Kitchen]

"You mean she watched the tape?!"

Sora's angry voice rang loud and clear through Riku's cellphone. Riku was just as mad as Sora was.

"Well, it's not my fault she is so damn stubborn!" Riku shot back. "If the bi-"

Before Riku could finish that wonderful expletive, he was thrown into a violent coughing fit. Dropping the cellphone on the tiled floor, Riku fell on all fours.

"Riku? Riku!" Sora's voice screamed, mixed with concern. Riku couldn't hear him, as he was still coughing.

__

Something is in my throat... He thought as he felt something slide up his throat with each cough. Finally, Riku was able to reach to the back of his throat and grab it. Gagging, he pulled it out, watching in horror as he pulled a string out, with a floppy little white disc attached to the end.

"RIKU! GODDAMMIT, ANSWER THE-"

"I'm...here..." Riku coughed, throwing the item aside. He shook his head and stared hard at the object he just coughed up.

"Riku, damn, what the hell happened...?"

"N-Nothing." He replied, voice a little hoarse. "Listen, I got to go, we're gonna land soon... Call you later."

Turning off the cell phone without even hearing Sora's reply, Riku shakily got up and examined his arm. The burn mark was still there, stuck on his arm.

"This is no dream..." Riku sadly realized.

~~~

A knock on the door fifteen minutes later broke his trance. Still shaking, Riku left the kitchen and opened it, seeing Sora's cross face and a file folder.

"...The folder...?" Riku asked, pointing at it.

"Info on Sephiroth. It's all in the newspapers. Not much, though." Sora answered, opening it. Exactly two slips of paper, filled on only one side with short newspaper clippings.

Riku opened the door wider and invited Sora in.

~~~

"He was a doctor?"

Riku reviewed the papers carefully. One paper was filled with short articles talking about the town's medical team back in 1966, Sephiroth included. There was also a birth announcement, a marriage announcement, and two death announcements

The other paper was a simply a map to Destiny Islands.

"Yeah. Only one in town, so a lot of people sucked up to him." Sora nodded, leaning back on the couch.

Riku scanned the announcements. The birth was for his son, Ansem. The marriage was him and Aerith, obviously. The deaths...

"Sephiroth died seven days after Ansem..." Riku observed. Sora smiled a little sadly.

"Yeah. Ansem supposedly slipped and drowned in a well. Sephiroth committed suicide seven days later. Guess it got to him." Sora commented, eyes closing.

Riku slowly took this all in.

"But what about Aerith...?"

"She's alive." Sora cut him off. "I spent the whole night searching for her death. It's not there. I'm damn sure Aerith is still alive. You should thank me." Sora added, a tone of warning in his voice.

Riku grinned at his friend.

"Why are you helping me? I thought you didn't believe in all-"

His grin disappeared completely when Sora showed him the burn mark on his arm.

"I started believing when I got THIS, last night." Sora stated, his face completely serious. Riku dumbly nodded, then got up, searching his pocket for something. Sora's eyebrow shot up when Riku found his car keys.

"Where are you going?"

"WE'RE going to investigate." Riku smoothly replied.

~~~

****

DESTINY ISLANDS

Riku stepped out of the ferry, Sora trailing behind. Looking over the lush scenery, Riku couldn't believe that this town was hiding some dark secret. The sky was a wonderful azure shade, with the ocean slightly darker. The beaches seemed to glow, and beyond that was a dense forest.

"Woooooow..." Sora stared with equal awe. "If we live through this, I'm living here." He commented. Riku shot him a nasty glare and continued on, jumping down from the docks. 

"So... where does Aerith live?" Riku asked. Sora blinked, staring oddly at Riku.

"I thought you knew!" Sora blurted out.

"...You idiot!"

A trio of girls playing with a red-haired cat glanced at the arguing duo. One of them, a young girl with blue and green eyes walked up to them.

"Are you looking for Ms. Aerith?" She asked.

The two stopped arguing and looked down on the young girl, who remained calm despite their glares.

"Um, yeah..."

"RIKKU! PAINE!" The girl called to her two other friends. "THESE PEOPLE WANNA SEE AERITH!"

The other two girls looked up and nodded, running off into the forest with the cat following. Sora cocked his head in amazement and Riku just wished they would hurry up.

"They will bring Aerith here, she doesn't like people in her house. Oh yea, an' you-" The girl pointed at Riku. "-shouldn't be afraid. It's your friends I would worry about."

Without another word, the girl skipped off into the forest herself, leaving Sora and Riku completely stunned.

"What was THAT about?" Sora asked. Riku shrugged. Why shouldn't he be afraid? He only had two days left.

The two sat down at the docks, Sora pointing out the little "fishies" swimming in the water while Riku just stared at his burn mark, wondering if the person who gave it to him was Sephiroth. Then again, it seemed a little small to be Sephiroth...

"You wanted me?"

A soft female voice distracted Riku from his thoughts and he looked up. The woman was very old, her skin wrinkled slightly. Her hair was tied back in a braid, chestnut adorned with many gray hairs. She was wearing jeans and a pink blouse.

But her eyes, they still glowed with that tranquil green. Riku knew it was Aerith.

"Aerith, I presume?"

Aerith nodded, crossing her arms.

"I'm Riku, this is Sora." Riku introduced himself, pointing at Sora as well. He outstretched a hand, but Aerith didn't take it. She was still glaring at him.

"Why did you call me?" She demanded. 

"... It's about your husband, Sephiroth, and-"

"My husband was a very respectable man!" Aerith snapped. "Don't you go around spreading rumors about him like the other people!"

Riku was taken aback. This wasn't the first time, it seemed, that someone had asked about Sephiroth. Warily, he pulled out the tape from his bag. Aerith's eyes followed his hand and she seemed to freeze when she saw the tape.

"I guess you know something about this, then?" Riku asked, taking on the same tone Aerith did. Screw being polite. This was a life or death matter.

"... Again.... It spreads like a sickness..." Aerith softly muttered. 

"Did Sephiroth make this? Or your son, Ansem?" Riku pressed her on.

"I don't have a son." Aerith bluntly told him. "And my husband has nothing to do with that tape." Without another word, Aerith strode off into the jungle, leaving behind more questions than answers.

"I guess that didn't help." Sora muttered. Riku snorted, then stepped into the forest himself.

"Wait, we don't even know what's there!" Sora protested, but he followed anyway, seeing that Riku did not intend to turn back.

~~~

After clomping through the forest for about three hours, the two tired teens emerged on the other side. And with such luck, because they landed right in front of the clinic.

"Destiny Islands Clinic..." Sora read the worn-out sign in front of the cozy building. "This must be where Sephiroth worked."

"Let's go in, then."

Stepping into the air-conditioned building, Riku found the waiting room empty, except for a blonde boy idly playing with an abacus. There was an old man with a toothpick in his mouth at the counter, spotting the boys with his frayed blue eyes.

"Outsiders, eh? We don't get to much." He dryly commented. 

"We're looking for the doctor..." Riku started, but the man cut him off.

"You're looking at him. Only doctor on Destiny Islands." He explained. Straightening up, he walked closer to them. "Cid Highwind." He introduced himself. 

They nodded, then Riku decided not to waste anytime.

"Do you know about a man named Sephiroth? Or his son, Ansem?"

Cid had a surprised look on his face. His mouth gaped open and the toothpick clattered on the floor.

"I'm sorry, but... my friend and I... we've been seeing disturbing images and..." Sora started, but the blonde boy in the corner interrupted him.

"Do you know anything about them?" He repeated.

"Um..."

"That's just Cloud. He's always here, aren't you?" Cid laughed, rustling the boy's spiky head. "He's my grandson." Cid explained. Then his face grew serious again.

"This isn't the first time anybody came here about Ansem... but it's been so long... come, we'll talk about it outside."

~~~

They sat at a picnic table behind the clinic, overlooking the cliff. The boys sat on one side, Cid on another. They sat near a tree, where Cloud was sitting in a swing, still playing with the abacus.

Finally, Cid broke the silence.

"You know... when my daughter had Cloud over there... we knew something wasn't right with him. Took us a long time to get used to him, but we still love him, you know. But... some of us have our limits..."

"... Like Ansem. Seph and Aerith, they were like peas in a pod. So they've been trying for a very long time to have a kid. Something must have been wrong with one of them, because Aerith kept on miscarrying. Then, they left for vacation one summer, and when they came back, they had Ansem with them."

"Adopted, they said. 'Course, I didn't buy it, cuz Ansem looked a lot like Sephiroth... but then again, I can see why they wouldn't admit he was their kid. Ansem was kinda... crazy like Cloud. Liked destroying stuff. You know, all kids like knocking down crap and stuff..."

"Of course, no kid could kill another kid. They put up with him for ten years, then he goes off and kills someone. Myst, I think her name was. Slit her throat and shit like that. It was really bad for Sephiroth's reputation, so he sent Ansem to the Traverse Town Institution. Hasn't come back since."

The air was silent, except for the steady creaking of the tree branch Cloud's swing was on.

"...Is he still there?" Riku breathed.

"I dunno..." Cid answered. He hesitated, then stood up. 

"But I'll tell ya one thing... Things here have been better ever since he left."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yes. I must make fun of Cloud whenever the opportunity arises... well, SOMEONE had to play the part of Darby!

Cloud: But why did it have to be me? ;_;

Ansem: _**O**

Cloud: X_X


	8. Too late

****

DAY SIX

[Traverse Town Institute]

Sora walked through the rainy streets, covered in his black raincoat. After threatening to chain Riku down to his bed if he didn't try to get any rest, he set out on his own to find out more about Ansem.

Walking through the door, a passing nurse tsked with disapproval as Sora walked to the desk, dripping wet.

"Hey, can I look through the record rooms? Ansem Valentine?" Sora asked, tapping the glass. The receptionist looked at him slightly annoyed.

"Are you a family member?" She asked.

"Uh, no... but I've been up there before." Sora tried, mentally kicking himself for thinking it would be easier.

"The record rooms are downstairs. I'm afraid you cannot get in." The receptionist briskly replied, flipping through her notebook.

"Oh, come on, he's DEAD." Sora replied through gritted teeth.

"I'm sorry, sir, but you cannot get in. If you have nothing else, please leave." The woman snapped. Sora put up his hands in defeat, and slowly slinked out of the room.

~~~

He grinned as the lock clicked. Pocketing the lock pick away and kicking open the door, Sora laughed triumph.

"Not so high and mighty now, are ya?"

Descending down the cement stairway, Sora hopped down, kicked open the door again and was greeted with the sight of video racks, file cabinets and lots of paper.

Searching through the filing cabinets, Sora finally was able to find a file labeled "Valentine, Ansem". Flipping through it, he found a bunch of reports. There was ink splattered all over them, as if someone didn't want them to be read. A few even stuck to each other.

"Damn it." Sora hissed, shutting the folder.

A slip of paper fluttered from the folder to the ground. Sora bent down to retrieve it and he flipped it over, reading the scribbled marks.

"_Video SR-71"_

"Video... must be over there, then..." Sora looked over to the video rack. He walked over to the rusty metal rack, hand skimming over the videos.

"SR-67... SR-69... SR-71!" His hand grabbed the sleek black case and eagerly popped it open. Disappointment fluttered on Sora's face when he found out it was empty. 

"Thought it was rather light..." He growled, flipping to the back. There was a checklist that told who had checked out the video. Scanning it, Sora found out where the video was being kept.

Aerith Valentine. MAR 1978

"Shit."

~~~

The phone rang.

Riku practically jumped out of his skin when he heard it. He had learned to fear the telephone. Edging toward it, he hesitantly picked it up.

"Riku, the video is at Aerith's place!" Sora barked. Riku blinked, staring at the cursed tape, laying a few inches from the phone.

"What video?"

"Oh, I mean, er, I broke into the record center, and Ansem's files has ink all over them. Someone didn't want anyone to read them. There was also a video, SR-71, but Aerith took that." Sora reported. Riku nodded, taking all this in.

"That video could probably tell us about Ansem... maybe why he still wants to kill..." Riku whispered, fingering the cream-colored bed sheet. He frowned, wondering if it was worth the risk of getting caught breaking into a stranger's house.

But was it worse than death?

"Sora, you have Aerith's address, right?"

"Yep." Sora's reply was confident. "The records here show that she still lives in her old house. I think they would have marked some change."

"I'm going to go there NOW. Wait for me at the docks." Riku commanded, then he shut off the cell phone and dug it in his pocket. Striding out of the dorm, his gaze rested on the TV.

His own reflection was nowhere to be seen. Instead, he saw a figure with white hair draped over its face. It merely stared back at him.

Shuddering, Riku slipped through the door.

~~~

****

Destiny Islands

"Sora!"

Riku peered through the darkness, making out a brunette in the distance. The brunette got closer, his smiling face clearer.

"Finally. I have the address, let's go." Sora waved a slip of paper in his hand. Riku only gave him a halfhearted smile in reply.

The trip was a silent one, but Riku finally broke it when the car silently pulled up to an old stone house surrounded by a flower field. The flowers were near dead, dropping low in the ground. The grass was brown. The place looked dead.

"You sure she li-" Riku stopped when he saw the faintest light coming from the top window.

"We're just gonna barge in. Screw diplomacy." Sora snapped, nearly kicking the car door open. Riku rolled his eyes but silently agreed, together, they went up to the front door. As soon as Sora reached for it, the door creaked open, swinging away to reveal only nothingness.

Slowly, the two boys made their way in, looking around for any signs of a tape. They were in a living room, with an old TV and VCR set in the corner. The TV hummed faintly, the screen illuminated a small patch of floor near it.

And in that patch of light laid a tape.

Sora and Riku just looked at each other. Someone knew they were coming. Someone knew what they were coming for.

Bending down, Riku picked up and tape and carefully slid it in the VCR. The TV screen fuzzed a bit, then the picture adjusted itself.

Riku gasped.

In a white room, sitting on a chair, was a small boy. His long, white hair flowed behind his back, standing out from his tanned skin. His golden eyes were cast off, looking down at the floor. He was wearing a black coat with boots, and would have looked like any adult if it were not for the scared expression in his face.

"Video SR-71, Ansem Valentine." A stern female voice said. Riku couldn't see the source of the voice, as the camera was focused only on Ansem.

"Ansem, we're here to talk about your... violent behavior." 

"I don't wanna talk. I wanna go home." Ansem snapped suddenly, fixing his icy glare directly at the camera lens, seemingly glaring right at Sora and Riku.

"We will send you home." The female assured him. "We just need to help you with your problem." 

"I don't have a problem." Ansem retorted, now looking off to the side. The scared face was gone. He seemed only angry. "Everyone else does."

A thick heavy silence hung in the air. 

"I want to go home." Ansem repeated coolly. "It's shitty, but it's not as bad as this place." He smirked as he said this. Somewhere in the room, sighing was heard.

"Ansem, please, speak properly to us. We're only trying to help..." The voice pleaded, but Ansem cut it off with a chuckle.

"It's too late." The demented child sneered, this time facing the camera again. He stared right at Riku, golden eyes boring in his green ones.

"No one can help me now...." He growled. Riku knew he was speaking to him.

"Ansem... that's not true..." The voice said, more sternly. "We can help you. Don't you want to be helped?"

"No..." Ansem repeated, his eyes still fixed on Riku. "I don't want anybody to help me."

"Well, what do you want?"

"_... I want everyone to suffer._" He hissed.

And the TV screen went blank.

Riku craned his head, looking over at his companion. Sora's blue eyes were wide, and he looked terrified. Riku didn't blame him. He, too, was scared half to death. And this was just through a tape.

"What a..." Sora started, but he shook his head. "There are no words to describe... how screwed up the kid is..."

"Indeed. There isn't."

The boys whirled around, gulping as they saw an angry Aerith. Angry didn't even being to describe it. Her lips were pursed shut, her eyes glaring at the screen with hatred. Riku realized that she was not upset at them.

"That boy..." She hissed, speaking the words as if they were obscene.

"What did you do to him?" Sora demanded, standing up and matching Aerith's glare with his own. 

"Sora..."

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?" Sora demanded again, his voice getting louder. He stepped forward, but Aerith did not step back.

"It's not normal for anyone to be like that! YOU were his mother! YOU should know why he is like this!" Sora ranted. He ignored Riku's pleas to stop and went on. "He's probably fucked up because of you! You always speak of him like he's some-"

"I WASN'T SUPPOSED TO HAVE THAT CHILD!" Aerith roared, slapping Sora with incredible force. Sora stumbled back and Aerith grabbed the tape from the VCR, striding back upstairs.

"No, Sora is right! What happened?" Riku demanded, helping his friend up. The two boys chased up after Aerith, bounding up the creaking stairs. They saw Aerith walk into a room and followed. They were led to a room with a balcony, and Aerith was sitting on the railing, one leg on the balcony floor and one leg dangling over. She had a thick rope tied to the railing and the other end to her neck. The rope didn't seem long either.

"Oh... God..." Riku gasped.

"Ansem isn't a normal child." Aerith calmly spoke as she tightened the noose. "Ansem is a demon. We tried to love him, tried to raise him. But he wouldn't let us. God knows what would have happened if Sephiroth..." She trailed off, eyes wandering away.

"No! We... we need to stop him! Or we'll die!" Riku pleaded, running to her.

Aerith only laughed.

"You'll die, all right. He lives only to kill... He never sleeps."

She plunged over. Riku stopped dead in his tracks and watched the rope stop. 

"DAMMIT!!!" Riku screamed, slamming a fist into the wall. He started shaking, his eyes burning with anger. "Of all the fuc-"

"RIKU!" 

Riku looked to the side, where Sora called him. Sora was pointing to the vast field before them. Walking over to where Sora was standing, Riku gasped at what he saw.

Blue light stretched across the field, coming to rest at a small stone well. The boys looked at each other. Someone definitely wanted them to come here.

They rushed downstairs and smashed through the door, following the light. If they had to stopped to look through the house, they would have learned that the source of the light was from the TV set, blaring static.

~~~

The well was in sight, The light faded.

Sora got there first, slowly pushing aside the stone lid. The lid scraped across the edges, finally dropping down with a heavy thud. They peered in, only to see the shimmering reflection of water.

"Wow... wonder why we're here..." Sora wondered aloud. He looked up to see Riku, staring into the depths in a trance, his eyes focusing on the water, his mouth slightly open.

"Riku?"

Riku could not hear him, for Riku wasn't listening.

~~~

Riku only saw the water. It was bright and sunny, and he was holding a blue flower in his hand.....

He heard footsteps behind him, but Riku didn't care. Instead, he was yelling at himself for killing Leon. The Institution wasn't that bad. Now, he was stuck in Hell forever.

"Why did you kill him... He wasn't involved." Riku whimpered to himself. Why did he like hurting people? It just seemed too much fun...

"He knew too much. They all knew too much... we have to keep it a secret, Ansem..." Sephiroth answered from behind him. He was stroking his hair. Riku hated it. It made him feel like the child he was supposed to be.

What secret? Everyone in town hated him!

Riku wanted to say this, but a black thing flew over his head. It covered his face, and Riku struggled. He couldn't breathe! He tried in vain to swallow some breaths, but he only got plastic. His eyes were burning, his lungs hurt... He barely felt himself falling forward...

~~~

Riku made a small choking sound, and he leaned forward, falling straight into the well.

"RIKU!" Sora made a wild grab at his legs, but Riku had already slipped in.

"RIIIIIIIIKKKKKKKKKUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!"

~~~

Riku opened his eyes. He realized that he was floating in water. He quickly reared his head up, breaking at the surface with a splash. Gasping for air, he looked up.

"RIKU!!! RIIIKKKUUU!!!" Sora's screaming was faint, but Riku could see him.

"S-Sora! I'm still here!" Riku yelled back. He looked around, but not for an escape route. "HE'S HERE, SORA!" Riku yelled louder. "HE'S HERE!" 

"WHAT?" Sora screamed back, but he didn't receive a reply. Quickly, he ran back into the house to call for help.

Riku was busy searching through the water. His hands were swimming around, hoping to make contact with something.

"Where are you..." Riku whispered. He raised his eyes and looked around the walls. There was a pearly white object stuck to the side of the well. Riku reached over and picked it off the wall, examinaning it.

It was a human fingernail.

"He was still alive..." Riku breathed. He lifted his other arm, but felt something on it. Looking down, he saw his arm covered in strands of silky white hair. 

A hand reached out and grabbed his arm, lifting something up. Rising slowly out of the water... Riku found himself face to face with Ansem.

The hand remained gripped on his arm, and Ansem looked at him, his face covered by the curtains of white hair. Riku reached forward, brushing aside the strands. The hair fell away, revealing a skull staring back at him. Riku sniffed, tears welling in his eyes.

"You were all alone... down here..." He mumbled, gently cradling the skeleton in his arms. "It's OK... It'll be OK..." He murmured, rocking it slowly. Tears will sliding down his face as Riku realized it was finally over.

"RIKU!!! RIKU, ARE YOU THERE?" Sora called again. "Guys, he's down there! RIKU! ANSWER ME!"

"... I'm here." Riku whimpered. "I'm here..."

~~~

They stood a few feet away from the well. Riku was wrapped in blankets, shivering from the cold. Sora walked up to his friend and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"They're gonna bury him. Along with Aerith." He chuckled at the irony. "... Must have been horrible down there... how long could you live." Sora wondered. Riku sniffed again, turning away.

"Seven days... you could live for seven days..." He sadly answered. Bending his head down and letting his hair cover his eyes, Riku started to cry out seven days worth of frustration and anger.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Heh heh heh... But Ansem doesn't want help, does he? You all should know what's gonna happen next... *prances off* THERAPY, HERE I COME!

Ugh, this is horrible. Riku is a wimp, and none of it is the least bit interesting...

If any of you recognize the name of Ansem's video from the Institute, I'll give you a cookie. Hint: It has nothing to do with the Ring movies. Or books. Or Ring anything for that matter.

Sora whistled, going through the cupboard. The seventh day had passed, and Riku had lifted the curse. Finally, they could all live in peace. Riku had gone to tell Kairi the good news, while Sora helped himself to Riku's untouched food.

Putting a cookie in his mouth, Sora walked past the TV set.

It suddenly switched on.

"What the..." Sora mumbled, the cookie dropping from his mouth.

It was a well.

"Oh God..."

Sora stepped backwards, as a screeching sound began to fill the air. He stood shock still has something clawed its way up the well.

A hand reached over, clutching the stone edge. It lurched up, the figure with the white hair in front of it's face. Ansem.

"But... But..." Sora stuttered, slowly making his way backwards, breathing heavily.

Ansem climbed out, setting his feet to the grass.. He took a step forward and started walking towards Sora, swaying rigidly back and forth, as in some sort of trance. The TV picture fizzed and was becoming distorted as Ansem got closer.

Closer...

The screeching was so loud now...

Closer...

Ansem stopped, right at the edge of the screen. Slowly, almost dreamlike, he titled his head forward. Hair spilled out from the TV screen as his head went right through the TV screen.

"JESUS!!" Sora screamed, falling down in surprise.

Ansem reached his arms out, setting them on the floor. Slowly, he crawled out of the TV set, using his arms to pull him through. Once all of him was out, Ansem continued crawling toward Sora , using his fingers... mere bloodied stumps to pull him the rest of the way. 

His fingers suddenly stopped, and Ansem rose up, towering over the frightened Sora. Sora heard ragged breathing, not sure if it was his or Ansem's, and looked up at his shrouded face.

"Wha... why..." Sora gasped, clutching at the doorframe so hard his knuckles were turning white. 

Ansem stepped forward, water still dripping from his hair. He tilted his head, face still hidden behind the thick white hair. Sora could have sworn he heard a chuckle.

__

"I do this because it's fun."

The words hung still in the air. And slowly, Ansem let part of his hair fall back, revealing one golden eye, glaring downwards. As Sora stared into it, he screamed in agony, feeling a burning sensation in his neck. Slowly, something ripped out of his neck, Sora's screams gurgled as blood rushed out the wound.

His head dropped next to his body, the face frozen in a look of utter terror.

Ansem let the rest of the hair fall away from his face. He grinned at his work. Clutching Sora's body and head, dragging it on the couch, Ansem set the body on the couch and set his head where it should be.

~~~

"Hey, Sora, I brought Kairi here and-"

Riku and Kairi were interrupted by the loud blare of static. 

"Sora?" Kairi called. The two looked at each other and stepped forward. Riku didn't get far before he saw red stains splattered on the carpet.

"Oh my god..." Riku registered this and ran to the living room. There was Sora, sitting on the couch, his back to Riku. The TV before him blared static. Stepping forward, Riku reached out to shake Sora.

"Sora...?" Riku gently shook the limp body. The shake caused the severed head to roll off, onto the space next to the body.

Kairi's scream was piercing, but Riku just stood there. Stood there, staring at the TV. 

"You..." Riku growled. He pushed the still-hysterical Kairi back and ran to his room. Locating the tape on the bedside drawer, Riku grabbed it and threw it on the ground, shattering the cover.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT??" Riku screamed in rage, grabbing the tape rolls and ripping them apart. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT???" He kicked the remains of the tape against the wall and violently tore at the useless ribbons.

"WHAT... DO... YOU... FUCKING... WANT...??" Riku collapsed on the ground, drawing several shuddering breaths. Ansem killed Sora. Despite all they did, it wasn't enough. 

What did he want?

"What do you want...?"

"_I want everyone to suffer."_

The hissing sound had come quickly and gone quickly, but Riku heard it. He understood. Slowly, Riku thought this over... why did Sora die... and how did he help cause the suffering...?

"I showed him the tape... he saw it when I was copying.. Oh... my... god..." Riku numbly thought. He lifted himself up from the room and trudged back to where Kairi was sobbing in the corner, and where Sora looked up with lifeless glassy eyes.

Riku stepped over and turned the TV set off. His fingers traveled to the back of the VCR and they clasped over the copy of the tape he had made that day. Realization smacked him right in the face.

"I made a copy..."

~~~

Riku and Kairi stood there as they showed a friend of theirs a copy that Kairi had made, saying it was a school film they found.

"What... should we tell her?" Kairi asked quietly.

"We tell her to make a copy. Spread it around." Riku answered.

"But..." The girl shifted uncomfortably. "Then... it's a never ending cycle... to spread the suffering...A-"

"That's what he wants." Riku grinned sadistically. "That's what Ansem wants."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

****

END

OK, first off, I apologize. I ruined the story. It sucked. I'm sorry again, but that's the best of my ability. X_X Flame me all you want.

And I just wanna say something: I never understood why Rachel had to free Samara from the well, and how that would help her realize she had to copy the tape. I dunno. But still, if Rachel could have figured it out anyway after Noah died and she could have done the whole copy thing, blah blah blah, everyone is happy.

But in this version, I had another reason: Ansem was trapped in the well, so while he could kill you, he had to 'will' you to kill yourself. Hence why Tidus, Wakka and Selphie died different deaths (Ansem obviously had fun with Selphie X_X). However, when Riku found Ansem's corpse in the well, Ansem was able to do the dirty deed himself. 

And yes, Sora died the same way Leon did. The difference is that Ansem doesn't need a knife anymore. Bwaha, if any of you find a plothole, tell me and I'll come up with some half-assed excuse to cover it up. Mmmm... plotholes...

****

Ansem: MWAHAHAHAHAAA!! KILL ALL HUMANITY!! WATCH MY TAPE! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!

****

Sadako: _O WHY ARE YOU HERE, DISNEY CHARACTER??

****

Samara: I'm sick of all the copycats. Let's kill him!

****

Sa-Something: _ _ *sneaks away*


End file.
